ASA publishes a reminder about the use of images in advertising

April 24, 2025

The ASA has published a reminder any guidance about the use of images in advertising.  When the ASA assess a complaint about an ad, it doesn’t look at individual claims in isolation. Rather, it assesses the ad in its entirety. It has recently investigated a number of complaints where companies’ marketing suggested they were UK-based, when in fact they were based overseas.  This suggestion that the firms were based in the UK was assisted by the images used in the advertising.

• Photos of a London street with a double decker bus, Union Jack flags and red telephone boxes in one ad, and a specific reference to Covent Garden with a location pin in another, all gave the impression of companies operating from London. Neither ad showed their actual location.
• With London in their business name and an image of a woman at a sewing machine, a further ad painted the picture of a London-based boutique run for years by two grandmothers, who were offering huge discounts in their closing-down sale. The ASA’s country of origin and location claims guidance aims to help firms ensure that any claims relating to the location or cultural heritage of their brand or company, or the country of origin of their products, don’t mislead consumers.
• Aside from London in the names of the companies, advertisers have referred to UK delivery times and Royal Mail delivery and used e-mail and website addresses to reinforce the impression of a UK-based business. In principle, there is nothing wrong with marketers using a ‘.co.uk’ domain or presenting prices in pounds sterling, even if a company is not based in the UK, but the marketing communication should otherwise make sufficiently clear the country from which the company operates. If in doubt, take a look at the ASA’s company names and URLs guidance.

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